A method for predicting chinook winds east of the Montana Rockies

Abstract

The "basin high' pattern is characterized by a strong surface high pressure system in the Great Basin, and is associated with light to moderate southwest winds and mild temperatures along the east slopes of the Rockies. The "Klondike' pattern is associated with chinook winds when slightly warmer air replaces an arctic air mass that has pushed southward over Montana. The "frontal' pattern produces the most significant and damaging chinook wind episodes and occurs when a rapidly moving Pacific cold front sweeps into Montana or southern Alberta as a ridge remains farther south over the western US. An objective aid for forecasting the strength of wind gusts for the frontal chinook pattern is described. -from Author